THE OPAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, DECEMBER l, mo. THE INDIAN CONFERENCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21197, 1 December 1930, Page 8

THE OPAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, DECEMBER l, mo. THE INDIAN CONFERENCE.

It is much too early yet, of course, to be forming: any conclusions as to how the Round Table Conference on India is faring, or concerning the prospects for what might be called a successful issue to its deliberations. The preliminaries being' concluded, the real work of the Conference is only now just beginning. The Federal Relations Committee set up in the early stages to consider the structure of a Federal system of Indian government has now apparently been reconstructed as a committee of the whole conference. No doubt this was expedient, but obviously in this form the cqanmittee must be altogether too unwieldy to accomplish much in the way of detailed work, for this can be done only by sub-committees through the examination of proposals such as may constitute a basis of progress. The heads of subjects indicated by Lord Sankey as affording, a useful basis of discussion serve to convey an impression of the intricacies into which the delegates must delve if—as must not he taken for granted—they accept the view that the present and future prosperity of India can best be promoted by a federal union. The speeches in course of the general discussion which occupied the earlier sittings of the Conference reached an exceedingly high level and seemed to be marked by an 'earnestness of tone that renders it perhaps a matter for regret that the extremists of India did not find themselves more largely represented in such an atmosphere. One of the delegates, Dr B. S. Moonje, affirmed that he had come to London against the condemnation of his friends and' in face of the assertion that he was a traitor for doing so. The impression is certainly left that in the Indian attitude it is not the question whether India is to have selfgovernment but the question how this is to be conferred upon her that requires discussion.. The delegates differ among themselves as to the form which self-government should take and when it should be applied. Not many of the representatives of India at the Conference have suggested that their country should step immediately into the position and status of a self-

governing community. That would, obviously enough, be an impracticable proposition, advanced with little regard to the interests of India herself. As The Times has observed, status is coming to be recognised as a matter of achievement-—not a gift. There can be no progress in the discussion of details till the broad outlines of structure are settled.

Broadly speaking, the Simon Commission proposed that there should be autonomy, including responsibility for law and order, in the Indian provinces, while a strong Government should be maintained by Great Britain at the centre, subject to such influence as might be brought to bear on it by a largo Legislative Assembly elected by the provincial legislatures. That proposal has envisaged a practical advance towards responsible government, while protecting India during the transitional stage from a complete breakdown of unity and government. It has been subjected, however, to some strong criticism. Sir John Simon has, presumably for the benefit of the Conference, drawn attention to the passage in the Commission’s report which reads: “It must not be assumed that you can substitute a different design and different materials'for one part of our structure without raising the question whether what remains can stand unaffected.” Even on the question of self-government for India numerous reservations have been in-* eluded in the pronouncements by the delegates, and everything goes, indeed, to emphasise the serious, almost baffling, complexity of' the task which the Conference has in hand; That aspect of the case was fully recognised by the Aga Khan, chairman of the British Indian delegation, in a speech in which he emphasised the need of trying again and again, and of keeping on trying, until something was produced that would ,be generally satisfactory. It is, of course, only by the exhaustive exploration of all the avenues by which the question of selfgovernment for India may be approached that a useful and practical outcome of the conference is possible. . The investigations of the sub-committees must take a considerable time, and the correlation of their findings and recommendations may be a still more protracted business. The tenor of the discussions so far has been encouraging, but a very large measure of optimism is necessary if the expectation is to be cherished that the Conference will be capable of coming to conclusions that will be acceptable all round. The hope may be entertained, however, that it will at least evolve something that will be sufficiently indicative of a desire to meet the views and aspirations of the Indian peoples to bring about a more satisfactory state of affairs in India herself.